


Tender of the Tree

by zinke



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Last Tree, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-21
Updated: 2016-03-21
Packaged: 2018-05-28 01:08:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6308062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zinke/pseuds/zinke
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The truth isn’t simple; it never is. A lesson it took the deaths of three-hundred and twenty souls for Marcus to re-learn.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tender of the Tree

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Not mine. Just borrowing. No infringement intended.  
> Spoilers: Through the Season 3 episode 'Terms and Conditions'.

_So this is what it looks like from the other side_ , Marcus thinks as the airlock doors slide closed behind him. In all his years as a member of the Guard, and later as Councilman, he’d never allowed himself to contemplate what it had been like, to be on the receiving end of a death sentence. 

“Kane. _Kane_.”

The words come to him as if from a distance, muffled and blunted by the churning of his thoughts. Marcus turns toward the sound to find Lincoln standing in front of him, watching him anxiously. “What happened?”

It’s such a simple question; one that should have an equally simple answer. And yet Marcus hesitates, unsure how to respond. The truth isn’t simple; it never is. A lesson it took the deaths of three-hundred and twenty souls for him re-learn.

Above all else, Marcus had been raised in faith. His father, a Sergeant in the Guard, was often absent for up to a week at a time; and so much of Marcus’s young life had been shaped by his mother. At six years old, he’d stood beside Vera, eyes of the congregation on him as he took part in one of their most sacred ceremonies. With his mother’s hand resting on the crown of his head, he’d trickled water on the roots of the Last Tree, murmured the words he’d been practicing diligently each night and made his solemn promise to the Earth, so that one day the Earth might give life in return. 

An act of devotion, couched in hope for a future Marcus had been too young to understand was never meant for him.

A third grade civics lesson on his responsibility as a member of the Ark’s youngest “transitional generation”, coming only weeks after his father had been killed in the line of duty, changed all that. He began asking questions, growing frustrated when his mother wasn’t able to answer them to his satisfaction. His classmates’ ceaseless name calling – ‘tree-hugger’ was a particularly painful barb that to this day still stung – had only served to further erode his confidence. 

By the time he was twelve years old, Marcus’s fragile faith had been pushed beyond the breaking point. His mother, for all her love and depth of belief, was powerless to stop it. 

“Earth is so much more than what you see out that window,” she’d whispered sadly, her eyes trained on the cherished tree he’d only moments before sworn to never waste his water ration on again. “You must never forget that.”

Over the years, Marcus had done his best to do just that. It was easier that way, to carry out what was needed to safeguard the only home he and those he lived beside would ever know. Earth might not be his future, but Marcus was determined to ensure it would be his people’s future – no matter the cost. 

The Ark and its people had to survive. The choice had been simple, clear, absolute. 

Or so Marcus had believed, until the day Raven Reyes’s voice had crackled over the comm. 

He’s been paying penance for that choice every day since, and in doing so Marcus has rediscovered a part of himself he’d long ago chosen to forget. His mother had been right; Earth was so much more than any of them could have ever imagined. And Marcus once again believes in it – all of it, the good and the bad. 

That’s the truth – his truth. That’s why he’s here, surrounded by Grounders and fellow traitors, waiting to die. 

“Hey!” 

The painful clap of a heavy hand on his shoulder is enough to bring Marcus’s thoughts back to the present. “You okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah. I’m fine.” 

Lincoln narrows his eyes. “I don’t remember you getting locked up with us as being part of the plan.”

“Plans change.” Marcus absently massages his wrist, fingers working against the indentations the hand cuffs have left behind. 

“Kane, what happened out there?” the boy repeats, more forcefully this time. 

“What needed to.” 

The look on Lincoln’s face makes it clear he doesn’t understand. Marcus isn’t worried; Lincoln and the others will learn soon enough what’s to come. As for the why of it; that’s something Marcus chooses to keep to himself, for now. To mull over in his last hours, a secret truth meant only for himself. 

He gives Lincoln what he hopes is a reassuring smile before moving to the back of the cell to take a seat on one of the few unoccupied benches. Leaning back, he sighs and closes his eyes at the feel of steel, familiar and solid, against his back.

His thoughts return to the Last Tree, now growing alongside its brothers in the woods outside Arkadia, its roots spreading deep into the Earth’s rich black soil. 

This future was never meant for Marcus Kane, Tender of the Tree, Steward of the Ark. 

 

*fin.*

**Author's Note:**

> ‘In peace, may you leave the shore. In love, may you find the next. Safe passage on your travels until our final journey to the ground. May we meet again.’


End file.
